Posted in Fab Fotos, New York Speaks, Nick & Nora and Flora & Fauna, Only in New York, tagged Business and Economy, Metro Areas, Michael Bloomberg, New Jersey, New York, New York City, New York City Metro, United States on November 18, 2012| Leave a Comment »
What a city this is!! New York speaks loud and clear and in many language, it’s just one ginormous kaleidoscope of humanity. You just never know what or who you’re going to come across in an afternoon.
Practice, practice, practice
Two Tourists in Central Park
ICONIC Still Life-A girl, a dog and two birds
Cirque du Soleil here I come!
Friends
Burying A Nut
A Nuthatch Seeking Insects
All photos courtesy of Murray Head
Posted in Fab Fotos, Nick & Nora and Flora & Fauna, tagged Bird, bird feeder, House Sparrow, New York City, Shopping, Squirrel, Suet, United States on November 16, 2012| 2 Comments »
Up until two weeks ago I wasn’t really thinking it was winter yet! After all the calendar says it’s not winter yet BUT after Hurricane Sandy followed by a Nor’easter which blanketed us in snow…Uhmmmm I think it has arrived! The birds at our feeders are there ALL day long and their day begins just before dawn! The squirrels are right there along side the multitudes of sparrows, hanging on the squirrel-proof feeder. We have put ears of dried corn out for the squirrels thinking that might dissuade them from the bird seed and suet. Well it hasn’t, but we’re cutting everybody some slack because we think they’re storing up for, what else, winter!
Murray captured some feathered friends in the parks of New York City. As always,many of his photos capture the personality and attitude of the species. Even when he is photographing the very common, very ubiquitous House Sparrows, the pictures are excellent.
A perky tri-color House Sparrow
Male Purple Thrush Berry Happy
Lovely Lady Cardinal
An In-Your-Face Sparrow
Camera-shy Woodpecker
Female Purple Thrush
Posted in Fab Fotos, Ha-P 2 B in OG, tagged Arts, Columbus Day, Holidays, Jersey, Jersey Shore, Michael Sorrentino, MTV, Murray Head, New Jersey on October 14, 2012| 3 Comments »
If you are a follower of this blog, then you know we spend time on the Jersey Shore and I have a category known as Art is Where You Find It. Art is everywhere IF you have the eye to seek it out, the time to look for it and it helps if you have the ability to capture the sight on film or in this case, digitally. Murray spent some of Columbus Day weekend with us and he disappeared for hours at at time, camera in hand. Oh yes, and it really helps if you have an artistic eye for form, color and perspective.
This is the art that surrounds us; It’s not hanging in a gallery in SoHo, we don’t have the name of the artist but we do have the ART!
SAND CASTLE
Sunset at Sea-The Golden Hour
Sea Gull and Street Lamp
Boogie Board Art
Art Deco Craftsmanship-Casino Asbury Park
Solitary Man
Following the Leader
All photos courtesy of Murray Head
Posted in Fab Fotos, Nick & Nora and Flora & Fauna, tagged Belle, Jersey Shore, Little Orphan Annie, Park Avenue on October 11, 2012| 2 Comments »
Belle De L’Ombre
Life is Good! From homeless orphan on the Jersey Shore to pampered puss on Park Avenue!
Photo courtesy of Murray Head
Posted in Fab Fotos, Nick & Nora and Flora & Fauna, tagged Berry, Bird, cardinal, Cedar Waxwing, Cedar Waxwings, Central Park, Murray, Recreation on October 6, 2012| 4 Comments »
Did you ever wonder how birds get their names? I mean a Bluebird is obvious and a Blue Jay makes sense, but what about a Cardinal? Do you think it was named after the Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church and did the color Cardinal Red come before or after the bird? Ahhhh but I digress.
The title of the blog is Berry Nice so wouldn’t you think it should have something to do with berries? In fact it does and also about some birds with a very unusual name. Cedar Waxwings! Really now, what does that conjure up? Cedar trees, wings of wax? Well I have some really cute photos of a bunch of immature Cedar Waxwings feasting on some red berries in Central Park. Murray was there to capture them and in addition, he wrote this little poem!
A tree grows on a slope north-west of Cedar Hill…
whose berries were ripe for the pickin’.
as a flock of juvenile Cedar Waxwings discovered.
in they flew, out they flew, and now those berries are missin’.
This looks like a berry nice place
I’ve got myself a nice juicy one!
I’d bend over backwards for a berry!
Not quite ripe but I think it will be fine anyway.
Humphhh at least, they left at least ONE berry for me!
All photos courtesy of Murray Head
Posted in Fab Fotos, Nick & Nora and Flora & Fauna, tagged Central Park, Murray Head on September 17, 2012| 2 Comments »
Hummingbirds are among the most spectacular of bird species. They are highly specialized and equipped to survive in this world. I watched a PBS special a while ago about the various varieties of hummingbirds and how they and the plants they feed upon actually have co-evolutionized (not sure that’s really a word)! Most of the hummingbird species have long fairly straight bills – all the better to suck up that sweet nectar, however, there is a hummingbird with a crooked bill specifically and anatomically adapted to feed from a certain flower.
Hummingbirds are aeronautical wonders; They can hover like a helicopter, they can fly as fast as 34mph and best of all they can fly backwards! Their wings flap anywhere from 12 to 80 times per second (depending on species) and when food is scarce or they are sleeping, they are able to lower than metabolism significantly in order to conserve energy. We usually spot a hummingbird when it is rapidly flitting around some flower but in reality they spend most of their time sitting and digesting. Sounds like my kind of bird!
Yesterday I included one of Murray’s photos of these ingenious little mighty-mouse birds. Today I want to share a few more close-ups of the tiny green hummingbirds inhabiting Central Park.
“Ahhhh so sweet…”
“That looks like a good one”
Teeny Tiny and Green
A Look of Determination
And Flexible TOO!
All photos courtesy of Murray Head
Posted in Fab Fotos, New York Speaks, Nick & Nora and Flora & Fauna, tagged Central Park, German Parade, hummingbird, New York City, Steuben Parade on September 16, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Yesterday was a beautiful sunny Saturday and Murray was out in Central Park snapping photos of the people, places and things, sites of our City and if a picture is worth a thousand words, then file these under NEW YORK SPEAKS!
Central Park is a popular spot for wedding photos
As we say, “Just another New York “crazy”.
Central Park or Sanssouci, Potsdam?
The Rhythm of The City
Not sure if they were part of the Steuben Day Parade
Some Were Very Tall
And Some Were Very Small!
All photos by Murray Head
Posted in Fab Fotos, Obscure Origins of Common and Not So Common Phrases, Only in New York, tagged American Redstart, Bird, Black and White Warbler, Cedar Waxwing, Feather, Martin Turner, Murray, Murray Head, Recreation, Romish Fox, United States on September 4, 2012| Leave a Comment »
The origin of this proverb dates back to the mid-16th Century. In 1545 Martin Turner used a version of this phrase in his papist satire, The Rescuing of Romish Fox; “Byrdes of on kynde and color flok and flye allwayes together.”
In nature, birds of the same species often do flock and fly together. Ornithologists explain this behavior as a “safety” in numbers tactic to reduce their risk of predation.
Well the only person shooting these birds is Murray and he’s using a lens, not a gun. See for yourself this marvelous flock of birds.
American Goldfinch
Hermit Thrush
Cedar Waxwing
American Redstaart (femaile)
Black and White Warbler
Red Tailed Hawk
All photos courtesy of Murray Head
Posted in BY THE WAY, Fab Fotos, New York Speaks, Only in New York, tagged 34th Street (Manhattan), Eleventh Avenue (Manhattan), High Line, Murray Head, New York Central Railroad, New York City, Park, Tenth Avenue (Manhattan), West Side on August 25, 2012| Leave a Comment »
And actually it was Murray who was walking along the High Line and snapping photos of just what you see as you stroll along. There are two schools of thought when it comes to the High Line; For years this piece of real estate lay fallow, weeds and wildflowers flourished in this vacant narrow strip of land. For sure there is a history of the High Line to be told: In 1847 the City allows street-level railroad tracks on the West Side. Between 1851 and 1921 there were so many deaths due to this train traffic that 10th Avenue was nicknamed Death Avenue. By 1929 after many years of public debate, the City and State of New York and the New York Central Railroad agree on an improvement project which includes the High Line and adds 32 acres of parkland to Riverside Drive and costs over 150 million 1930 dollars – equivalent to about 2 billion today. In 1934 the High Line opens to trains running from 34th Street to St. John’s Terminal on Spring Street. By the 1950’s the growth of interstate trucking leads to a decrease in railway hauling nationally and on the High Line. In the 1960’s the southernmost section of the High Line is demolished. In 1980 the last train ran through the High Line carrying 3 carloads of frozen turkeys. In the mid-19080’s a group of residents who owned land beneath the structure lobbied to have the High Line torn down. In 1999 The Friends of the High Line, a preservation group was formed. From that point on, they worked with various City and State commissions to have the High Line preserved and turned into a public use space. This was the first school of thought; that this unique piece of real estate should be open to the public, preserved to be enjoyed by the masses. It took years to explore all the possibilities, secure permission from various regulatory commissions, to hold design competitions, to get approvals for every aspect of design and construction and on and on through miles and miles of red tape until finally in 2009 a section of park was opened from Gansevoort Street to West 20th. That was then and now in 2012, the High Line has become a major tourist attraction. And that brings us to the other school of thought about what has progress wrought upon us? A few days ago in the New York Times there was an Op-Ed article entitled Disney on the Hudson. Here are the first two paragraphs although from the title itself, I’m sure you know where this is going! “WHEN the first segment of the High Line, the now-famous park built atop an old elevated railway on the West Side of Manhattan, opened in 2009, I experienced a moment of excitement. I had often wondered what it would be like to climb that graffiti-marked trestle with its wild urban meadow. Of course, I’d seen the architectural renderings and knew not to expect a wilderness. Still, the idea was enticing: a public park above the hubbub, a contemplative space where nature softens the city’s abrasiveness. Today it’s difficult to remember that initial feeling. The High Line has become a tourist-clogged catwalk and a catalyst for some of the most rapid gentrification in the city’s history.”Sadly, that’s how I feel about most of what was at one time, a unique place or event in our great City. I really don’t like enormous crowds anywhere and long lines are distressing, not to mention the weariness of dodging slow-moving gawkers. Oh well now I sound like a cranky curmudgeon New Yorker! Anyway here is the link to the entire piece: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/22/opinion/in-the-shadows And now that brings us a couple of days ago when Murray took these photos:
“I Wonder Who’s Kissing You Now”
View From My Window
Broken Dreams
Rec-reate-Advocate-Procreate
ONE WAY
KEEP OUT
All photos courtesy of Murray Head
Posted in BY THE WAY, Fab Fotos, Nick & Nora and Flora & Fauna, tagged Animalia, Arthropoda, Biology, Dragonflies, Dragonfly, Flora and Fauna, Insect, Thursday on August 18, 2012| 1 Comment »
Murray sent me a terrific group of Dragonfly photos. They were taken on Thursday and should have made the FAB FOTO FRIDAY post but as you can see, there was no Friday post. SO today I’m posting the photos AND writing about the many characteristics and principles associated with this beautiful winged insect.
Beautiful Blue Dasher Dragonfly
Maturity and a Depth of character
The dragonfly, in almost every part of the world symbolizes change and change in the perspective of self realization; and the kind of change that has its source in mental and emotional maturity and the understanding of the deeper meaning of life.
The traditional association of Dragonflies with water also gives rise to this meaning to this amazing insect. The Dragonfly’s scurrying flight across water represents an act of going beyond what’s on the surface and looking into the deeper implications and aspects of life.
Brown Hawker Dragonfly
Power and Poise
The dragonfly’s agile flight and its ability to move in all six directions exude a sense of power and poise – something that comes only with age and maturity.
The dragonfly can move at an amazing 45 miles an hour, hover like a helicopter fly backwards like a hummingbird, fly straight up, down and on either side. What is mind blowing is the fact that it can do this while flapping its wings a mere 30 times a minute while mosquitoes and houseflies need to flap their wings 600 and 1000 times a minute respectively.
The awe inspiring aspect is how the dragonfly accomplishes its objectives with utmost simplicity, effectiveness and well, if you look at proportions, with 20 times as much power in each of its wing strokes when compared to the other insects. The best part is that the dragonfly does it with elegance and grace that can be compared to a veteran ballet dancer. If this is not a brazen, lazy, overkill in terms of display of raw power, what is?
Poised to Perfection
Defeat of Self Created Illusions
The dragonfly exhibits iridescence both on its wings as well as on its body. Iridescence is the property of an object to show itself in different colors depending on the angle and polarization of light falling on it.
This property is seen and believed as the end of one’s self created illusions and a clear vision into the realities of life. The magical property of iridescence is also associated with the discovery of one’s own abilities by unmasking the real self and removing the doubts one casts on his/her own sense of identity. This again indirectly means self discovery and removal of inhibitions.
Not An Illusion-Two Blue Dashers
Focus on living ‘IN’ the moment
The dragonfly normally lives most of its life as a nymph or an immature. It flies only for a fraction of its life and usually not more than a few months. This adult dragonfly does it all in these few months and leaves nothing to be desired. This style of life symbolizes and exemplifies the virtue of living IN the moment and living life to the fullest. By living in the moment you are aware of who you are, where you are, what you are doing, what you want, what you don’t and make informed choices on a moment-to-moment basis.
This ability lets you live your life without regrets like the great dragonfly.
In the Moment
The opening of one’s eyes
The eyes of the dragonfly are one of the most amazing and awe inspiring sights. Given almost 80% of the insect’s brain power is dedicated to its sight and the fact that it can see in all 360 degrees around it, it symbolizes the uninhibited vision of the mind and the ability to see beyond the limitations of the human self. It also in a manner of speaking symbolizes a man/woman’s rising from materialism to be able to see beyond the mundane into the vastness that is really our Universe, and our own minds.
Here’s Looking At You Kid
All photos courtesy of Murray Head
Text from Wikipedia
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